Chapter 294

<Ugh… I curse you, Order Religion…>

<Evil god… ‘Strict Order and Goodness’ is an evil god…>

<Oh, Saintess of the Evil God, be cursed!>

Black specters oozed from the walls, ceiling, and floor, on the verge of blocking the entire path.

Agnes screamed in horror.

<What are these things now?>

“These are the vengeful spirits of those who were buried alive with Mu Ellinas when she died.”

<Ah, my goodness. What in the world have they done…>

“I agree. Exorcism!”

I performed an exorcism, but it only opened the path for a moment.

The specters didn’t disappear but stubbornly crept back out.

The exorcism skill wasn’t working at all.

‘Come to think of it, the system told me to appease their souls.’

It seemed I had to help them ascend, not annihilate them. I decided to change my approach.

“I’ll run, Agnes.”

<What are you going to do?>

“I’m going to gather them and deal with them all at once.”

According to the system map, the corridor here was coiled like a snail’s shell.

If I ran along this one-way path to the deepest part, I would reach the central hall.

Lure all the specters there…

‘Send them to the Voice-Spirit that Constructs the World with one blow!’ [The ‘Voice-Spirit that Constructs the World’ gives a thumbs-up, saying it will be waiting.] My two legs sprinted down the corridor at high speed.

✠The room reached by ascending the endless staircase from the central hall.

It was a sacred place, never permitted to any being other than Muriel Philise — no, Mu Ellinas.

The space was a tall, wide circular hall, with twelve colossal angel statues standing guard along its perimeter.

Their forms, holding weapons and guarding the front like gatekeepers, contributed to the majestic atmosphere.

In the center, protected by the angel statues, Mu Ellinas lay on a marble altar.

Her long black hair cascaded over the rectangular altar like a waterfall. Lying in a formal posture in a white ceremonial robe, she slowly opened her eyes.

Her eyes, a coexistence of blue and gold, were not only mysterious and beautiful but also as profound as a sage’s.

“My body is almost fully restored.”

She murmured to herself inadvertently.

She had the habit often found in those who had endured long periods of solitude.

Waking up after a few days, curiosity naturally arose.

‘I wonder what happened with the heresy trial.’

She desired a scenario where the heretic Holy Saint and the master of the Holy Sword would annihilate each other.

Her aim was twofold: eradicate heresy and maintain the regressed world.

In truth, she also knew that a world could be maintained if there were a god. But to her, it was meaningless if the god ruling this world wasn’t ‘Strict Order and Goodness’.

Thus, to her, the oversight of the ‘Voice-Spirit that Constructs the World’ was no different from the occupation of the Chaos Evil God.

No, it was even more threatening.

‘I serve only one god.’

Faith was originally like that. One does not believe in a god to achieve worldly success or a specific purpose.

One simply believes because it is a god. Without judging the god’s will with trivial human convictions, one merely prostrates oneself in a low place and upholds the god’s will.

Then, as the Sacred Horologer, what Mu Ellinas had to do was clear.

To kill Tesillid Argent and trigger another regression.

‘I should first confirm his life or death in this timeline. If he fought the heretic Holy Saint, he would barely be alive, if at all. After making sure he’s dead, I can abandon this timeline…’

Just as she decided to act herself.

Crash!

“…!”

Something unexpected happened.

Suddenly, the entrance to the sanctuary burst open with a roar, and countless specters poured into the sanctuary like wastewater.

<Ugh! I curse you!>

<Order Religion…! Order Religion…!>

<Even if my bones turn to dust, I will not forgive you!>

A surge of specters surrounded Mu Ellinas from all sides.

‘How did these heretical vengeful spirits get here?!’

The situation was quickly understood. There was not only a multitude of specters in the sanctuary but also one more impudent intruder.

A woman with pink hair stood tall like a vanguard against the tide-like army of specters that rose high. She channeled her 9th Divine Power Tier.

“Farewell, go to the Voice-Spirit that Constructs the World.”

The ultimate skill ‘Requiem of the Full Moon Night’ is activated.

Moonlight poured down. As this place’s ceiling obscured the sky, celestial bodies could not be seen.

The full moon was replaced by the Sacred Halo Effect (Passive) that appeared behind her.

Like black rust flaking off, the specters were purified by the light.

<Ah… it’s light…>

<Finally, I can leave this place…>

The souls of the people who had been trapped in the burial tomb for 500 years returned to the heavens.

‘All those vengeful spirits at once?!’

As Mu Ellinas watched in horror, the pink-haired intruder turned around and met her gaze.

Blue-gold eyes and verdant-green eyes met from a distance. Soon, the impudent intruder spoke.

“What? Why are you coming out of here?”

“….”

That was what Mu Ellinas wanted to say.

✠After a brief thought, I decided to correct myself.

“Ah, well, I guess since this is your tomb, it makes sense for you to come out of here. Mu Ellinas, master of the burial tomb.”

It seemed she was here recuperating, restoring a body that Reed had once killed.

Soon, her reply came.

“…You knew me?”

“Your speech has become informal. It must have been hard pretending all this time.”

“I won’t deny it.”

Her change wasn’t limited to her speech.

A strange light flickered in her eyes, where blue and gold coexisted. Cold killing intent combined with divine power, creating a shimmering aura around her entire body.

The elegant, black-haired beauty in a ceremonial robe. She finally revealed her true status and power, showing her true colors.

An ordinary human would have immediately prostrated themselves in awe. But.

<Look at her, Aillet.>

At Agnes’s chuckle-filled call, I too immediately unleashed my status.

My divine aura, spreading much wider than Mu Ellinas’s, sought to prey upon her power.

“….”

“….”

In the quiet standoff, her eyelids trembled faintly.

The winner of this territorial dispute was clear. Mu Ellinas was currently at the 8th Divine Power Tier, and I was at the 9th.

<Hmph, don’t even try.> [The ‘Voice-Spirit that Constructs the World’ proudly lifts its chin.] [The ‘Scales that Judge Souls’ claps, saying ‘Well done, well done’.] [The ‘Heavens’ Secret Overseer’ is subtly satisfied.] “Shall we continue?”

“…I’ll stop.”

Mu Ellinas, concealing her indignation, was the first to withdraw her status. Then she began to interrogate me.

“Aillet Rodelain, why are you here? Didn’t you meet the master of the Holy Sword?”

“Your intention behind the question is contemptible. You seem curious about the outcome of setting me and Tesillid against each other.”

“Frankly, yes.”

“You’re so slow to get news. Tesillid converted.”

“…!”

Mu Ellinas’s reaction at this point was a sight to behold.

“Converted?”

“Yes.”

“How could he?”

“….”

“To have received a god’s chosen status like me, how could he so easily apostatize?”

She raised her dark eyelashes, her eyes trembling. It was a genuinely shocked reaction, not feigned.

<Is she crazy?>

I was so dumbfounded that I couldn’t even let out a scoff.

“Hey, Mu Ellinas. Stop making that ‘betrayed for no reason’ face.”

“What?”

“What has your god ever done for Tesillid? You abused him and still expected unwavering faith? There’s a limit to shamelessness.”

“It’s a trial from god. He should accept it willingly— ”

“Shut up.” [ Transcendent Skill ‘King’s Order’ is activated.] “…!”

Mu Ellinas clutched her throat in panic, as if her vocal cords had malfunctioned. Soon, she coughed unattractively, as if spitting out a piece of poisoned apple stuck in her throat.

I watched her struggle to resist and said,

“Say that after you’ve rolled through a thorny path for 117 iterations too.”

“…117 iterations?”

Mu Ellinas, who had just shaken off the King’s Order that gripped her tongue, widened her eyes.

It wasn’t that she was surprised by her god’s malicious abuse anew.

“Has it progressed that much already? Then about seven thousand years must have passed.”

Mu Ellinas’s tone, as if she had some plan, was unsettling.

I instantly realized. There was something related to the original Part 3 that I, as a possessor, didn’t know.

How could I extract the truth from Mu Ellinas?

Not long after I pondered, an opportunity presented itself.

“I have one question, heretic Holy Saint.”

“Hm. Speak, mummy of the ruined cult.”

Her beautiful face twitched. As an excited person tends to speak freely, I decided to provoke her further.

“A walking corpse serving a god that doesn’t even exist. Empty shells suit each other well.”

“Don’t blaspheme!”

I thought she meant not to blaspheme against god. But then.

“A god resides within me, so to blaspheme against this body is to blaspheme against god.”

“….”

She equates herself with god?

That arrogance amplified the doubts within me. [The ‘Voice-Spirit that Constructs the World’ watches Mu Ellinas with sunken eyes.] In the meantime, Mu Ellinas returned to her question.

“Is the master of the Holy Sword definitely on the 117th iteration?”

“What if he is?”

“A later iteration than the master of the Demonic Sword…? Why?”

I wondered what she was asking.

“Why is it the 117th iteration and not the 131st?”

Privilege for Possessors